Language Barrier
by GummyBearaddict
Summary: When a new friend student arrives at Arthur's school, he's not sure he will get along with her. His best friends; Kiku and Caitlin take an instant dislike for her, but what will the British boy think after he gets picked as the new girl's English tutor? Will he be able to teach her some decent English before they both have to perform a scene from Shakespeare for a perfect grade?
1. Chapter 1- Introduction

**Long time no story write~ :D Well I was introduced to a great Anime called Hetalia, even with its historical inaccuracies, its a really fun show to watch. So as I was watching the show, I started to notice the various pairings, GerIta, USUK, FrUK, SweFin etc. and it kind of got me thinking, why are most of these countries male? So I did a little snooping, turns out there are Female versions of these male nations. That got me thinking, what would these countries be like if they were human? Also done, by various people. So I decided to join the Hetalia invasion, and write my own fanfiction, about the one pairing that entertained me so much: FrUK. They way they had a running fight every time I saw they met was hysterically funny, and since I myself have a French friend (I'm English), it became a running joke we were the FrUK pairing in school. Enough ranting now~ Enjoy the story :)**

**-GummyBearaddict- **

The morning's sun shone through the silk curtains, the specks of dust dancing daintily in each ray, like tiny fireflies in the night. I pushed the covers of my soft duck feather duvet down, peeping out, squinting my eyes in the sharp sunlight. Urgh. It was morning. That means another day at school.

I hauled myself out of bed, running my fingers through my messy ash blonde hair, trying to focus my glazed over eyes from having slept late last night. I managed to avoid falling over as I got into the bathroom. There sitting on the top counter of my bathroom, was my mint green bunny.

I know what you're thinking; how the bloody hell do you get a green rabbit? It's a rather long story, but it has to do with my arse of an older brother; Alastair. Thanks to him, Scones now goes around with a green fur coat, an unfortunate shade for my dashing rabbit.

"Come to greet me this morning?" I stroked his fur softly, running my fingers along the soft hairs on his ears. He let out a happy noise, nuzzling against my finger. He always seemed to be there for me, through thick and thin, pretty and ugly, brother and parent.

"Arthur! Get yer arse down for breakfast you little punt!" The loud booming voice of Alistair rang through the house; I swear my ears were bleeding. Pulling my school blazer on, I got my 'arse' into the kitchen.

The intoxicating aroma of eggs and bacon drifted up my nose. "Morning Mum" I kissed my mum's cheek, watching the bacon sizzle, the squeak of frying eggs in the pan. Mum flashed a soft grin, popping my breakfast onto a plate.

I took it gratefully; I always loved Mum's cooking. She had tried to teach me how to cook on several occasions, but I was always shoved out of the kitchen when I mentioned helping, maybe she preferred to work alone.

"Don't eat so fast, you'll choke—"Alistair quipped, taking a long sip of his morning coffee, giving me an innocent enough grin, but I could feel the malicious aspect of it. Besides being the least favourite choice for cooking duties, I had to deal with my elder brother, Alistair. He was only 2 years older than me, though he welded that to his advantage.

"Go and get ready quickly sweethearts. You have a good day at school the pair of you. Arthur; remember you have a maths quiz at 10. Alistair; no beating up innocent little boys" Mum placed our lunches down on the table, kissing our foreheads, heading upstairs to her bedroom.

Quickly popping my plate into the sink, I grabbed my lunch, packing it quickly into my bag, shutting the flap quickly. "What are yer hiding Arthur?" Alistair gave a small smirk, leaning against the doorframe. I gave a small grunt, pushing past him.

The morning's crisp air washed over me, groups of school children frolicked merrily to school. Pathetic. School isn't a place of fun and games, it's like a chess board, only the King and Queen survive till the end, and what was I? A pawn.

At the end of the road, stood Caitlin and Kiku. The other pawns in the school chess board dynamic. Both happened to be in the same class as me, though I had known Caitlin since my family moved to the neighbourhood, when times were happier. As for Kiku, we ended up at the same table during lunch break the first day of school, and we had been friends ever since.

"Arthur Kirkland. What took you so long?" Caitlin said in an annoyed tone as she spotted me approaching, her hands on her hips. "Well hello to you too Caitlin—"I gave a smug grin, my hands firmly planted in my pockets.

Kiku gave a shy grin, standing by her side, I swear he always seemed to follow her like a lap dog; maybe he had a thing for her—or feared her. The three of us walked along the pathway to school, catching up on the various things floating around school.

"Did you hear Arthur? There's going to be a new student." Caitlin said in passing, giving a small grimace.

"What's so bad about a new student then?" I gave a glance over at her, tilting my head.

"She's French, so rumour says—"She gave a toss of her pigtails, the golden locks flowing behind her back. Caitlin was a fine catch, but she seemed to be more interested in mothering me and reading than beautifying herself for the attention of the male population.

"Hai, but i-it would be nice to have new students, for culture reasons, yes?" Kiku chirped up, rubbing the back of his neck. He always had a thing about working on 'cultural differences', I assumed it was because he was the only other Asian in the school, though I think there was a Chinese boy in the year above, but our interaction was minimal.

The school gate loomed in front of us, the large metal gates pinned with the school crest in iron, the proud name 'Birches Hill Sixth Form College'. Great another day at doom—I mean school.

"Come on Arthur, Kiku, before we're late—"Caitlin glanced at her watch, grabbing our hands, rushing to class. I gave a small smirk, she always wanted to be the girl who never kept her tongue in check, but she was never late for a day of class. Ever. I glanced over at Kiku, whose face had turned a very bright shade of crimson.

"I-I have to get used to these European customs—" Kiku said breathlessly, stumbling along after her.

"Nope, this is a Caitlin custom—" I gave a soft chuckle, keeping pace with the golden haired female, dragging the terrified black haired male along with me.


	2. Chapter 2- The New girl

**Hello people of the interweb. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to do ;A; I blame my laziness and my lack of concentration. And roleplays. Always roleplays. Gosh I've become a lazy arse. Well I've got into the habit of Roleplaying on Facebook, as Hetalia characters. And its become part and parcel of my life now. Get home, shower, lunch, homework, RP until the middle of the night. Oh lovely insomnia. So other than Roleplay, I have started cosplaying. When I was about 5 years old, my cousin used to come over to our house to trim her wig. I always thought how silly it was for having a wig, then she explained what it was. And the fascination hit me. I could be these fantastic characters, be a completely different person. So far I have done Fem!England, and am considering doing Fem!France or Canon France. Later I may consider doing Canada, or Canon England. Though I think my eyes are bigger than my wallet. Well anyway~ Enjoy the chapter, and hopefully I will have more discipline in getting the next one out.**

The wooden door of our classroom loomed in front of us, the numbers '407' engrained in the soft wood. It almost looked like a prison code. "Hurry you gits—"Caitlin hissed, turning the doorknob.

"Coming love~" I cooed softly, I always enjoyed winding up her emotions, it was rather easy really.

She threw me a death stare; I swear I could feel the arrows hitting my knees. Unfortunately for us, Mr Darwin heard us. The bright lights of the classroom filtered into the hallways, almost like a spotlight. "Where have the three of you been?" He said in a low tone, his foot tapping impatiently. Mr Darwin was our year's discipline master, and when he posed himself like this, he usually meant business.

"Mind telling me which universe you had to save for missing 15 minutes of lesson?" He narrowed his deep set, dark brown eyes, bending down to eye level, his rather large belly jutting out from his ebony brown vest on his white oxford shirt.

I simply flashed an innocent smile, giving Kiku and Caitlin a gentle nudge to follow. "I'm sorry sir, but we had to help a group of children outside our house, they needed help crossing the road—" I looked up at his giving a broad grin, my hands fumbling at my bag strap, even if I was a 17 year old boy, I could still turn on the cuteness and innocence factor easily.

Mr Darwin fell for it again, for a discipline master, he fell for the most idiotic things, and honestly it wasn't much fun fooling someone so easily. As we settled into our usual three desks smack at the back of the class, Mr Darwin cleared his throat, adjusting his thick rimmed glasses. "We have a new student joining us from France—" He paused, writing her elaborate name on the board. On the whiteboard in cursive script was the feminine name: _Françoise Jeanne Bonnefoy_.  
"French eh?" I leaned back into my seat, whispering to Caitlin, slightly unimpressed. So she was from France._ Big deal_. Caitlin didn't say a word, her eyes darting to the shadow formed at the door, her blonde ponytails swaying slightly. Kiku seemed to have gained sudden interest in his notebook, hunching over it, almost trying to make himself look smaller.

The door creaked open, at the entrance of the doorway stood a rather flamboyant female. Her long curled chocolate locks were pulled back in a messy bun, a pair of violet eyes glinting with an almost mystery like fashion in them, her pale smooth skin seemed almost powdery. She was quite a catch, but then again, beautiful women were dangerous women.

"Make her feel welcome students; that means you two—" He glanced at Gilbert and Alfred seated at the back of the classroom with a rather satisfied smirk on their faces, I knew that in the depts. Of their minds they were concocting plans for the new girl already.  
She gave a confident smile, her eyes locking on each of us with a firm calmness. "Bonjour mes amis~ J'espère que j'aurai de connaître tous les vous assez tôt" I narrowed my eyes, my fingers tapping on the wax of my table, trying not to scratch the polish away. I never liked the French, and this woman wasn't going to change my thoughts, not even with looks like that.

"Take a seat anyway—" Mr Darwin said abruptly, gesturing to the array of seat before her. Her violet eyes locked on my emerald eyes, not that I was looking of course, more out of curiosity rather than attraction. She gave a gentle grin, winking at me. I gave a disgusted grimace, looking back at my notebook. The woman couldn't even speak English, nor control her flirting ways.

Mr Darwin placed a picture of Shakespeare on the board, his fingers tracing along the edge. "Anyone know who this is?" He grunted, pulling the marker from the back of his ear, jotting down the man's name in bold. "_William Shakespeare_. He was one of Britain's most famous play writers…" His voice droned out of my head as I started to doodle in the pages of my notebook.

My notebook was my guilty pleasure. It was merely a brown paperback book, covered with pictures of my rabbit; Scones. But it was the pages of it that made people's hand itch to open the pages and flip through the lines of mystery. As I continued minding my own business, I could hear Françoise struggling to pronounce each English word, her tongue tied by the simplest of words.

My mind drifted to the view outside the windows, the rolling greens of our school stretched out before me, daisies springing up in odd places, the large oak trees blowing gently in the winds of the morning. In the far edge of the greens, outside the cast iron gates stood a father and son. The man lifted the boy onto his sturdy shoulders; the facial expression of the little boy implied his peels of giggles erupting from his small frame. I wonder what it was like to have a father like that…

"Mr Kirkland….Mr Kirkland…MR KIRKLAND." I heard my name yelled out. I glanced back at the front of the class to find Mr Darwin right in front of my desk. I gave a sheepish grin, looking down at my notes quickly.

"Mr Kirkland. Since you seem to have such a disinterest in my class, then you must know what our project is about, yes?" He quipped at me, his hands grabbing my notebook. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. "Give it back!" I grasped desperately for it, my eyes widening in fear.

"We have to form groups to perform scenes from Shakespeare's most famous play writes; _Romeo and Juliet_. And since you, sir, seem to be such an expert in this department judging from your lack of interest. This will count for 80% of your English grade. You shall partner Ms Bonnefoy." His words struck down on me like a heavy weight. Her? Her of all people? I would've partnered that annoying American boy if it meant not being with her.

He threw my notebook onto my desk, giving a triumphant grin. "Maybe you could even teach her a little English. After all she has asked specifically for you, since you seemed to so quite a talent for the English language." I broke my wooden pencil in half, playing with the slinters.

Caitlin sensing my tension gripped my hand. "Calm down Arthur, you'll get to go inside her head for once—"

"And cultural enlightenment—" Kiku muttered softly, giving a hopeful glance at my direction.

"I can hear you two at the back. Then I shall see to it Kiku and Caitlin are in the same team as well." He gave a glance at them from the corner of his eyes, writing down the scenes from the play.

"W-What?" Caitlin looked bewildered at Mr Darwin. It wasn't that she didn't like Kiku, but she was a straight A student, and Kiku was not the best of actors. She gave a grimace, pulling at her hair in frustration; I gave a glance at Kiku, his cheeks filled with an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

I gave a nervous glance to the board, the scenes listed down; each one played romantic scenes in my mind. To play them with this French girl made me want to lose my lunch. I prayed with every essence of my being that it wasn't the balcony scene, or worse, a kissing scene. I crossed my fingers, my body breaking out into a cold sweat as he finalised groups and scenes on his notebook.


	3. Chapter 3- Shakespeare unlucky

**FINALLY. ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE. Sorry if this one is short. Exams are eating into my soul. I've had to give up my roleplaying habits, which is like killing half my being; it's my only outlet for mental frustration and writing ideas. Then again, it's hard finding time and patience to write. Really difficult. Getting back to the stories, The 'Empty Wedding Bells' was a after thought during maths classes, like I said my mind wanders to odd places during lessons, no one thinks of the algebraic equation of a curve. It's developing nicely (working on Chapter 2 now) and this story of Fem!France and UK is also in progress. I was thinking that I would do some character development meme stories here as well, to try and dig into the characters a little more from each story. Anyway, enjoy this short update~**

**-GummyBearAddict-**

The list of scenes grew longer and longer as Mr Darwin began writing down the selected chunks of Shakespeare's most famous love manuscript; Romeo and Juliet. I chewed on the tip of my pen nervously, shooting glances at the new French girl. Mr Darwin had conveniently decided to pair her with me. Me and my big mouth, mum always said it'll get me in trouble one day. And as always mum was right. But I suppose the situation could be worse, Caitlin and Kiku were paired together. Sure they were friends, but Caitlin was a very persistent straight 'A' student and Kiku would rather kill himself than perform in front of our classmates. Murmurs began to rise as Mr Darwin began to pair people together, mostly in protest or defiance. "Once you have your partners, please shift over next to your allocated person so I may get started."

The sound of shifting chairs echoed through the classroom, the nearly familiar bun of brown hair started bobbing toward me, her bright violet eyes looking toward me. I merely gave my head a slight nod, my lips pulled in a tight purse. She didn't seem to fall for my sour attitude, giving a light smile, chirping up a larger smile. She seemed cheery. I didn't like cheery. I had had enough of that from a few fascinating creatures in my class.

"Bonjour. I am Françoise Bonnefoy, and you?" She opened her mouth; the clear French pronunciation was crisp in her voice. I picked her hand up with my thumb and forefinger, giving it a light shake. "Arthur, Arthur Kirkland. Not pleased with this acquaintance." She gave a light smile, poking my cheek.

"_You are a stubborn one_, hating someone you don't even know." She chuckled, pulling my head to face her, our eyes locked. I could feel my teeth grit, my cheeks starting to tint pink. Why the hell was I giving her the satisfaction of teasing and toying with me?

"I hate those who deserve it." I said inching off her, "Especially if the party involved decides to ruin my education and cross my lines." She let go, giving an annoyed frown, turning to Mr Darwin who was now standing before us, his fat beer gut sticking out under his brown vest, his greasy monkey hair slicked back.

"Alright then. Time to hand out scenes." He said flatly, picking up a heavy looking stack of scripts from his desk. He walked along the rows of desks, looking down at each pair of students with a slightly malicious grin. "Well, here's you scene Kirkland, Bonnefoy." He placed a thick wad of papers down, shuffling through the quickly and pulling out two sets of stapled papers and handing it to us. Clearly marked in black ink on the cover were the words that made my heart sink: Act 2, Scene 2. It was the famous balcony scene, where Romeo and Juliet confessed their love to each other. I couldn't bear the thought of having to say sweet nothings to the girl sitting next to me. It wasn't unpleasant, it was repulsive.

Mr Darwin walked along next to Caitlin and Kiku, dumping another set of scripts. "Act 5, Scene 3?!" As she looked through the script more, her grey eyes grew wider. "B-But mostly I am supposed to fake death, that means that—" She glanced at Kiku with utmost horror, he was to carry the scene on his shoulders, meaning her grades were on his shoulders.

"C-Cannot you pair me with someone else? I do not want to disappoint Caitlin-san." Kiku said timidly, putting the script down, his large brown orbs staring up into Mr Darwin's merciless gaze. "My decision is final." He merely said, walking off to the next table to ruin someone else's life.

"I expect people to have this done by the end of the month, where each team shall perform their given parts for the class. I wish you all the best and I believe that you can perform well. Class dismissed." As he finished the shrill school bell went off. Shoving things into my bag, I was slightly relieved to know that we were having Algebra next, not that I loved calculating numbers, but the new girl wasn't in my class.

"Arthur! W-Wait for us!" I heard the high pitched voice of Kiku calling across to me, Caitlin following behind him looking slightly panicked. "Mr Darwin is the devil in disguise I tell you…" Caitlin whispered with acid under her breath, turning toward me, her grey eyes wide and furious. "Look who she has paired you with, let alone me. Françoise was it? She seems like a fishy character. All French-like. She told me my hair needed conditioner, the nerve of her!" She said slightly shrilly.

"I'm not a big fan of the French culture myself, sort of flirt, and charming men and women. She kept calling you a stubborn person. The nerve of her, like she is a great character herself, did you see the way she looked at you? Like a piece of fresh meat!" She continued on, Kiku nodding after her, trying to avoid my eye. Honestly, she did cross a comfort zone for me, but she didn't seem all that bad, maybe a little too heavily perfumed. And way too much make-up. And her short pleated uniform skirt—the more I thought about it, the more her face started to irritate me.

The ground of us headed to our next class, the hot discussion of the new girl spread around the school. Everyone was talking about her, girls talking of her slutty habits, the boys talking of her sexy figure. She was the envy of many, and a hate to many. "You're so lucky to have her as a partner! Don't snog too much okay?" Was a common line shot at him after Mr Darwin's choice went viral. I didn't want to give her a second thought, but I didn't have a choice what with the constant chat about her.

The rest of the school day flew by quickly, glad to leave the hell hole now infested with fawning boys and envious girls. She was /just/ French, what was so special about him. Personally I hated and loathed the race, for personal reasons more than the national stereotype. The French were the reason I had no father.

Years ago, my Father started at a new company, where he had a new secretary, a Frenchwoman. I remember her well; she always wore her blonde streaked hair in a tight ponytail, always smelled heavily of the sickening scent of cheap wine, and wore a thick coating of make-up. Dad used to bring her around a lot and say that they had business in the office, and used to bribe us with sweets not to tell mum about them. I never knew what they were doing, but there was always a lot of moaning and banging, the occasional scream or loud groan. The room was always closed off to us, but I did get in. Once. But it's a memory I prefer to keep to myself, not even Alistair knew about it

But mum was never the wiser about what was happening, because my mum was always sick. No one would tell me what she was sick with, but as a young child I was in no power to question the authority put upon me by my Dad and older brother. Alistair always knew more than I did, even now. I was, and still am, seen as the youngest and most insolent in my family. And after years of hearing the same set of moans and sickening thuds, Dad didn't return home after work. He had run away with the stupid woman. The stupid blonde haired, blue eyes doll. But he never cared about us anyway; usually the only time he talked to us was when he was bribing us or drunk and hitting us senseless.

The dirty Frenchwoman got away with my family pride, everyone in the neighbourhood heard about our cheating father, and how the pair of Kirkland boys were nothing better. It was like living in a zoo, everyone enjoyed watching us behind glass, poking fun at the 'animals'. And I seemed to be the centre of attention, it didn't help that I pierced my right earlobe either. I had seen people in magazines with them, and I got curious. Honestly I thought it made me look dashing, but mum nearly had a heart attack. I knew it was a bad idea, but adolescent rebellion got the better of me. It was a fuel for me, maybe if I dyed all my hair green and got a tattoo…

"**ARTHUR IGNATIUS KIRKLAND. ARE YOU LISTENING?!**" A very angry sounding voice rang through the classroom, the face of a rather upset looking Mrs Howards, her wrinkled lips in a fixed frown, her piercing cold eyes behind her thick glasses. I gulped, shuffling papers in my palms. No troublemaker ever crossed her path; she was like a robot dictator, no mercy in her stone cold robotic heart and believed in physical punishment heavily. She tapped my head, giving an annoyed yell.

"When you return to earth Mr Kirkland, I would like a full report on the importance of having the decimal system in our everyday life…" She continued rambling on about the work I had to fulfil, which I'd probably not do anyway, too much of a hassle. "Hand this in before the following week. If not, I shall contact your Mother." She said curtly. That also was not a threat. Mum never disciplined me; it took her too much effort. She did, however, give very long speeches about how I needed to be a more gentleman character.

Great Day wasn't it? Got stuck with the French brat, I have Maths detention and I have to face a shit load of work. Thank you. Really. Thank you so fucking much world. I gathered my things as the lesson bell went off, shoving papers into my satchel. As usual, Caitlin and Kiku were waiting for me outside the classroom. Caitlin seemed in a better mood now, maybe lessons had given her time to mellow down.

"I've got Maths detention work. Mind helping me Caitlin?" I gave a coy smile, Caitlin's grey eyes narrowed in malice. She never approved of my gallivanting ways about the rules, but then again, she herself did do the same in many little ways. She could never keep her mouth shut if some injustice was performed on the innocent. She'd get along well with the American boy in the lower class, though our previous interaction was not that pleasant.

"A-Arzhur! Arzhur!" I heard that same tone calling me from behind, it was her. "Arzhur! W-We need to discuss zhis project." She stopped breathlessly in front of me, pushing a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.

"Start the project already? But it's due in a month, don't get your knickers in a twist." I muttered, shuffling a few inches away from her, not in the mood to deal with the 'lovely' lady as of now.

"Sh- Anglais idiots et leur logique…" She muttered under her breath, throwing me an annoyed grimace. "Look, meet me in zhe library at 3pm today after classes. A few hours of time with moi is not going to kill you, non?" She said calmly, her violet eyes watching me like a cat watches its prey.

"…Sure Whatever works." I answered back in a mundane tone. An hour or so with her? God I might as well stab myself with a hot metal poker through myself than deal with the French Frog.

"You're really going to meet her, Arthur?" Caitlin and Kiku said, nearly in unison, nearly in shock. I merely gave a shrug. I didn't like her, but I didn't like failing Literature either. Being an Englishman of such a calibre and to fail any English aspect was very shameful. Might as well go, _maybe if I could find a few worms to slip into her bag…_


	4. Chapter 4- Girl Logic

**Hello again. Managed to dig up another chapter for Language Barrier, I shall work on doing Empty Wedding Bells when I get home. That's right, GummyBearAddict is headed North for awhile. I'm heading off to Malaysia for a Student Council Camp (Gasp. I have morals) I shall be gone from Thursday to Saturday. And then I usually have no motivation on Sundays. So sadly, It'll be awhile before I update because when I get back to home, it's only a week before the biggest Cosplay event of the year; AFA. And I am going only on the third day thanks to my busy schedule as Arthur Kirkland. Cor, this is going to be fun. I've only done Alice Kirkland before, but I mean this is my first male cosplay, I hope I don't fail too badly. Getting back to this story, as of now I have to debate what I'm going to do with this, since I've kind of brought in the topic of 'nerd power' so that means I've made this mainstream (oh the joy) So as of now, I will continue Empty Wedding Bells first. And maybe start a new one; think along the lines of mental institution or a blind nation. It'll be fun torturing people with emotional feels. Well that's it for this update, and I hope you enjoy your day, and this chapter, because I've enjoyed every minute of typing this out; because it gives me an outlet from the everyday torture of 'real life'. Enjoy~**

**-GummyBearAddict-**

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After the last bell of the day rang out to conclude the school day, I managed not to commit suicide from the thought of sharing a love scene with the new girl; Françoise. Most people (mainly the male population of my school) couldn't wait to lay their hands on her, but I found nothing about her appealing. The heavy perfume, the silky hair, the annoying foreign accent, everything about her annoyed me; even her breathing, was that possible? Probably, somewhere in my twisted mind. I had to meet her again after school to work on the script. I had never received anything lower than an 'A' for my English Literature grade, and some foreign 'belle' was not going to ruin my perfect streak.

"Arzhur! Arzhur!" A slightly out of breath Françoise ran after me. I didn't realize that I had been literally running, pushing my way through the throng of students. "Sorry for that…my mind wanders…" I said simply, avoiding her gaze, my buttons on my school blazer suddenly became very interesting. She merely gave a roll of her eyes, grabbing my hand. "Arzhur, we need to work on zhe script. Where can we practice?" She said innocently enough. Arzhur. Couldn't she pronounce Arthur? Or were the letter't' too difficult for her to comprehend?

"How about the library?" I managed to reply her, still facing my most interesting buttons.

"Too Quiet."

"The school Garden?"

"Too Cold."

"The Music Room?"

"Too little space."

"The Moon?"

"You're kidding right? What about your 'ome?" She asked, pulling my chin up to finally face her, a pair of violet eyes staring me down. I tried to move my gaze away but she ended up cupping my face to hers. "Listen, I don't want to be your partner eizher…But we're stuck with each ozher…" She said in a pained tone.

"Oh thank you love…" I quipped back in a hiss. "I didn't know you loved me that much." Another attempt to turn my head away, cannot, her image was already burning my brain. "Look we cannot use my home. Please. Somewhere else." Home. I couldn't call it home. It was a small cottage that needed serious revamping before it collapsed on our heads. And with mum sick at home and Alistair constantly cooped up in his room; probably smoking and drinking again, or a random female there, it wasn't somewhere I could bring her without having her start questioning him.

"Why not your home?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, finally letting go of my chin. "Isn't zhat zhe best place to start?" She pressed on of the matter of coming over. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable and queasy at the thought of her entering my home, and for her to find another reason to discredit me, after all she seemed to share the same passionate hate. It wasn't so much as a rivalry as it was a battle of the gods. Was it a cultural thing for the English to hate the French? It was probably difference in opinions and view of the world. Then again, I was a pretty sour individual, and seemed to repel any form of sunshine.

"I cannot. Mum doesn't like guests over." I said, avoiding her frustrated frown again, keeping my eyes lolling over the halls, trying to rack my brain for a new location. Come on. Anywhere but home. ANYWHERE.

"Why not? You seem to bring zhat Caitlin and Kiku over a lot. Why cannot I come? I /am/ your Literature partner. You're supposed to show moi how to speak better English!" She huffed slightly, pushing a lock of her brown hair behind her ear, tapping her foot impatiently on the polished floors of the school halls. "And she would understand if it's for school, non?" She once again threw me a nasty look.

I could feel the stares of the students passing us by. 'Run along please…' I threw them a pleading look as they scampered along with their heads turned as I caught their attention. She continued pacing the hallway, watching me from the corner of her eye. What was wrong with not coming to my house? If that was the issue, couldn't we use her house instead? I mean it was simple logic really.

"…Then your house then?" I managed to say after she nearly hit a student passing her. "I mean it only seems fair." She merely gave a loop-sided frown, pressing her fingers to her forehead. "It would be more convenient to 'ave it at your 'ouse." More convenient? Did she have a thing for the smell of whiskey and smoke? I guessed not.

"Look—I would rather we stay in school, or going somewhere else. Home is not the best of locations." I stated in a matter-of-fact tone, my lips pulling into a thin line; I was losing patience with this one, and possibly cutting off blood to my knuckles. She was probably coming to the end of tether with me as well.

"Is it because you're dating zhat girl, Caitlin?" She huffed slightly, crossing her arms across her chest. Was she being an idiot here? What would dating Caitlin make a difference? "I'm not dating her. To put it simply." I adored Caitlin, but we've been friends since the age of 3, anything romantic would have happened by now, besides I had a feeling she would pick someone more of her own calibre, but she was a nice companion to sit and watch movie marathons with. She was basically this naggy best friend I had, and she probably wanted to keep it that way.

She simply tossed another strand of her hair in annoyance, sending daggers my direction. "It is, isn't it?" She yelled at me, pointing an accusing finger, what was she getting so huffy about? "Zhen fine. We practice anozher day." She turned her heels, muttering something in French, pacing quickly away from me, her delicate feet hitting the floor faster than I thought they could. Well that meant I was free the rest of the day, shall I do homework? Of course not. Off to find Kiku and Caitlin, maybe they could figure out the female moral code for me.

* * *

"She just stormed off before I could do anything else…" I finished off the recap for them, popping another smartie into my mouth, flipping through the history textbook. I'd called them, asking to meet up, and as usual we had trudged over to Caitlin's house for the evening. It was a foggy evening in the middle of Autumn and the perfect weather not to be outside, possibly cooped up at home with a good book and a hot cup of tea. Instead we were in Caitlin's very warm and snug living room, sharing a pot of hot tea and dozens of smartie boxes, fairy cakes and her mother's amazing sausage rolls.

"Don't you think we'll get fat with all this?" Kiku said, taking another roll. Before we could respond he replied with a mouthful of sausage. "Never mind, I'd get fat because these are too good." He flopped back onto the bean bag, literally moaning into each bite. He had a thing about them, after all they were salty; and he seemed to enjoy salt, too much at times.

Caitlin continued drinking her tea in silence, trying to think, her glasses slipping down her nose as she continued grasping the mug. She usually kept her hair in neat curled ponytails, but when we were at her house, she usually kept it down in a messy flow. Honestly, if she wore that to school she might be a real catch, but Caitlin was a woman of logic, not the matters of the heart.

"I have a feeling our Arthur over here has got himself a lady friend." She said simply, before taking another long sip of her tea. Her words hung in the air, Kiku stopping mid-bite, nearly choking. I simply took another smartie, waiting for her ever bright answer, fiddling with a loose string on my blazer.

She cleared her throat, placing her mug down. "Well, she seemed offended by the fact that you would not let her in your house for the project, and even used another female's name in defence. She either thinks you're trying to woo her into some sort of sexual nonsense or she is harbouring feelings for you, and I am pretty sure it's the latter." She said simply, taking a smartie in her fingers, toying with it. "She possibly finds you an interesting target because you denied her. Every other male she has tried to talk to go weak at the knees and become putty in her hands, yet you didn't. That calls for something drastic on her part."

"But she hates me."

"Exactly. She acts as if she does. Arthur, the female mind is complicated and isn't like reading an open book. She's trying to hide her feelings for you through negative impact. And you on the other truly do hate her, so it'll be a punch in the face for her when she finds out." She finished her speech off by finishing the smartie in her hand. "Simple logic really, when it comes down to it."

Kiku literally looked stunned, slightly solemn as he finally took another bite. "Women are confusing, why isn't there a book or something to explain all of this? It'll be much easier for the male community not to get killed by mood swings and wrong doings." That was the simple logic of the boy who hid behind the pages of manga.

"I'm guessing that you believe in this logic that she may like me?" I questioned, turning the page of the textbook again, out of habit, not really bothered about learning about America's Independence, something about red coats, but I wasn't in the mood for historical references.

"Absolutely, you asked me for advice, and I gave you what I thought. Also, I am a woman, if you hadn't remembered, and who else would give you straight forward information about woman better than an actual woman?" She had a point there actually, for once. I pursed my lips slightly, keeping my fingers on the page, turning to Kiku.

He looked back slightly, slightly shocked. "Yes Arthur-san? Is there something you want to say?" I shook my head turning back to the page. "Just wondering something here. We're all 16 turning 17 yes? This is the age most people of our youth have been in several relationships. And look at us; we haven't as much as rubbed finger tips with the opposite gender."

"I prefer isolation, thank you very much." Caitlin cut in with a huffy tone, as if what I said was a dire insult. Women logic. I needed to learn it quickly. "I'm not insulting you, merely I am saying, and what are we doing wrong?"

Kiku chewed his lower lip, offering his advice. "W-Well, look at us. We're the bottom of the school food chain." It was true; we were not very popular people. Caitlin was what you called a book-lover, she was never seen without a book in her hand and preferred to deny herself of any male interaction; except for us for obvious reasons, and we were what she called less annoying. Kiku was told to have been found with Japanese pornography, but his innocence in the matter was that it wasn't porn, it was cultural matters. And as for me, I was the lonely soul who scowled at everyone; male or female, so it was no surprise I had no female associates, other than Caitlin and my mum. But your mother doesn't really count.

"We're still young, we have time…" Caitlin finished off her tea, pressing her nose into her textbook, not touching the matter again. "So you haven't learnt any of your lines?" None whatsoever, I threw her a helpless look, my eyebrows furrowed together. She took that answer as a no. She sighed slightly, turning to Kiku. "We haven't had much success either." I couldn't imagine him being very passionate over a supposed lover's death.

"Well I have it tougher, who says she can recite an English play when she already messes up normal conversation." I cleared my throat, attempting a fake, rather horrible attempt at a French accent, twirling my hair with a finger, trying to look more feminine. "We only 'ave limited time, Arzhur! Don't let moi romantic feelings get in zhe way of our play, I 'ope zhat you notice moi slutty behaviour and sexy foreign accent."

Caitlin rolled her eyes, taking a roll in her fingers. Kiku rolled off the bean bag, choking on laughter, his usual solemn face twisted in a hysterically funny-looking flush. "Honestly. Boys." Caitlin said in a grimace, rolling her ever disapproving eyes at us.


	5. Chapter 5- Turning Tables

**I've finally done a chapter longer than 3,000 words ;u; Achievement unlocked~ I've got a week off so I might be able to finally update more chapters; also I won a writing competition! I really have to thank everyone who reads and comments on my stories for giving me encouragement and advise. Thank you so much, enjoy this chapter.**

**-GummyBearAddict-**

* * *

"You ever get the feeling social prejudice was assigned at birth?" I joked, tossing an apple lazily from hand to hand, watching the social classes of our school milling about during lunch. There were different tables, nearly segregated. There were the more attractive people of our society sitting at the centre of the canteen, seated with their airs and graces. There were the rich students who preferred to keep themselves away from the 'peasants' of this country. There were more groups than you could count really; teenagers were creatures of comfort, so I suppose it was expected we'd start to separate ourselves. Our table was the oddball community; it consisted of Kiku, Caitlin, Matthew, Yao and I.

Matthew was the twin brother of the rather popular boy from the year below me, his name was Alfred and he was a bit of a twat. He had what I called a hero complex, but he wasn't all that bad company, but of course not within 50 feet from me, a shouting contest was our only real conversation; or a heated argument, with him smiling and laughing too much. Matthew on the other hand, was polite and well-mannered; everything his brother wasn't. He wasn't liked because he was one of those people who actually smiled at people, so clearly he had to be mentally retarded or he had problems. Yao was from my Science classes, he was a good chap, and sometimes I hung out with him when I needed some nice company. The only down side to him was that he has a bit too attached to his family traditions. I had spent one Chinese New year with his family and to say the least I won't be going back anytime soon, even if the biscuits were rather nice. He was rigid and very brainy, so he wasn't exactly a conversation starter with many people in school; although I have seen him hanging out with the Russian boy two years above us, rumour had it they were a bit _more _than friends; but in this school you didn't believe everything you heard. You needed credible sources.

My only real credible source was either floating rumours, or the deconstruction that Caitlin provided for me, rather she openly told us, rather than wait for us to ask. She had a fixed view of most of us in this school were complete idiots; especially the female proportion, and she wouldn't be far off. We were a normal enough high school in a normal enough area, so I supposed that everything we had here was common in other schools. I took a bite from the apple, watching the continuous stream of students circling in and out of the canteen. My eyes drifted toward the popular table; where the supposedly gorgeous and more flattering people in our school sat at. It was filled with females with slim figures and large chests, and males with angular chins and broad shoulders. I was not classified in there simply because I was a stick. I was not a muscular person in nature, I was on the skimpy side and basically looked as if clothing hung on me if I didn't get the exact size I needed, this made taking my older brother's clothing my only option (because obviously getting new clothes was too expensive). I was simply too tall, too thin and too awkward for the table.

Kiku couldn't join, even if his one credible talent was being from exotic Asia, because he was a very socially hidden person. He didn't really open up and preferred to learn than party all night drinking and having sex. He was decently good-looking, and a few girls from the chess club and the strange club he set up for his Japanese comics and shows; it wasn't something I wanted to know in detail. He was an all-round nerd who loved most fandoms, so cracking fandom jokes at their table once had earned him a place on their 'list of people to avoid' alongside myself. Caitlin could have joined if she had wanted, and actually she did for a short period of time. But after the first 2 weeks she couldn't stand it anymore and decided to pull herself out; which was not something you were allowed to do. So that social suicide made her known across the school and the 'nobody'. Caitlin was very beautiful, but she was also very brilliant and saw through the popular people very quickly. I was quite happy to have them both in my company, and was very happy to have someone to insult the other people in our school behind the scenes. I watched the popular table again, and that's when it struck me.

Françoise was among them.

How did a woman who had been in the school for merely 2 weeks, not even a month, and already be in that sort of crowd; guarantee she had quite a lot of male attention since arriving. She seemed in her zone, with the group of male seekers watching her carefully, studying her features with lust as she tossed another fleck of her hair behind her ear. She had a few men circling her, seated with the other popular people in the school, chatting them up with something that looked mildly provocative; by the way she pursed her lips at odd intervals and kept crossing one leg on another, her short skirt peeking through to show a little more thigh than was needed for school. That was when I realized her uniform wasn't what I expected. Our uniform was a basic white buttoned shirt with a blue-striped tie with our school colours, a pair of black slacks for boys and a blue plaid skirt for the girls. It also came with a black jacket with large silver buttons and the school crest on the right breast; slightly longer and wider for males and tighter and well-formed for females. We basically looked like innocent child who sat at their desks and listened intently to their teachers; that wasn't always the case.

Most of us didn't wear the jackets to school because it was often not worth it or we couldn't be bothered. The uniform varied from season to season, but the basic look was the same. Most girls cut their skirts very high, and their socks were covering their legs up to their knee; and a pair of awfully shiny ballet flats. Caitlin was a rare case of a human being to have a rather long skirt and tucked in white shirt, she still looked absolutely fit for school (if not a bit too much) and had a brainy beauty to her, but this school was not the place for elegant beauty. But Françoise was…I couldn't really place a word on it. She had a short skirt, and her shirt was tucked in like the other popular girls, with her tie slightly loose, hanging over her cleavage. But she didn't appear slutty. She had her soft hair pulled back in a loose hair bun with black bobby pins, her cheeks dusted with a natural glow. The way she walked, the way she talked, the way she presented herself had such a sophisticated air, that I felt slightly intimidated being her partner. That, however, did not change my opinion of 'interesting Frenchwoman' in my head; in fact it strengthened it.

She was chic. She was what you might call 'hot'. _She was a threat to my sanity. _

* * *

"How's the literature project going?" I teased Caitlin, tugging at her pigtails. She gave a slightly annoyed face, trying to break free from my contact, eventually giving up and letting me mess with her hair. Kiku gave a shaky and nervous shake of the head, his cheeks going red, as if signalling to him not to ask. As I've mentioned before, Caitlin took pride in being the only person in our district with straight A's, some say she's been getting them since birth and used to get A's on the colouring pieces she did in kindergarten. This assignment was a team effort; usually anyone put on her team knew that this would be an easy ride since she was very particular in what was to be done and what was not. But here was Kiku, even if they were best friends; he was a threat to her record. Caitlin's grades and books were the only thing she clung to. She was not fond of human emotion, nor was she especially close to her rigid father, who is probably the reason she's so uptight and wordless the whole time. With Kiku who was both frightened of anything that touched him and the fact he couldn't do public speaking; doing a Shakespeare play was like asking him to climb Mount Everest.

"It's…It's…" Caitlin said with a frown, tugging at the corner of her books, giving a worried frown toward Kiku. "He's doing the best he can and I expect nothing less from someone I trust." She breathed out, shaking my hand off, walking ahead of us toward to our classroom, her head bent down over her books. Kiku froze in the middle of the hall, his face contorted with a slightly confused smile, his cheeks bright red. I waved a hand in front of his face, his whole body still frozen in the state I'd left it. "Snap out of it; you're scaring the 'children'." I referred to the other walking students around us, poking his side. He gave a shaky squeak before rushing off toward class in the same lowered expression as Caitlin did. If women didn't puzzle me enough, now Kiku was trying to give me trouble. I sighed, walking behind the crowds toward my classroom. I pulled out my script, glancing through it again, trying to pull myself away from the thoughts of the two nearly 'coupled' friends. It was an interesting thought that they might one day be dating, away from me. And I'd be the third wheel.

It was just a thought in my huge, sometimes overwhelming mind.

"Get in quickly; we don't have a lot of time to waste. Literature waits for no man." Mr Darwin said in a low hiss, his hands tapping on the table, his eyes narrowed. He was not a man to keep waiting, even though testing his patience was something of a school sport in itself. "Right, in you get, Mr Jones, no mucking about." He said, closing the door behind the last student making an attempt to scuttle into class. "Last week I split you into groups to plan out the scenes of the famous English Play writer, Shakespeare. This small project will be included in your final grade for this year's course, so I hope you've put in more effort into it than your usual standard of work. I will be harsh in the way I critic because I expect my class to be on the utmost perfection of the literacy world; that and you're all rather expressive." He paused, walking along the front of the class, his hands held behind his back. "I want you to feel the emotions of Romeo and Juliet, their doomed love, the tension between their families and their conflicting traditions, the unquenchable amount of love they shared in their first love, the fact that they didn't let go; they fought for it with their life and death." The classroom fell quiet as everyone watched Mr Darwin get more and more heated as he continued.

His enthusiasm was very…unusual, but it sure left an impact on the class. Personally, I've never dated. And for a 17 year old boy, that was a little pathetic. But he had a point; Romeo and Juliet tried to love each other through all odds, even if they died in the end, they never stopped. They were probably stupid, idiotic lovers, but something kept drawing me back to them; maybe it was because they were so popularly known in everything; but something about them kept tugging at me, some sort of confusing relationship with me and that story. Would I happily perform it? Sure. Would I perform it with that person? Not really.

"I will start with teaching you how to perform these pieces with deeper meaning. The first scene I would like to concentrate on is Act 2, Scene 2; Capulet's orchard. Performed by Arthur and Françoise, please come forward." Mr Darwin tapped on the board, dragging two high stools out for us. "Literature waits for no man." He gave a nod, gesturing toward the chairs. I got up from my seat, gripping my script tightly. I had not made any communication with Françoise since our little encounter a week ago on finding somewhere to practice; and it wasn't exactly a happy one. I had no effort to welcome her after that, in fact I had spent more of my time analysing her from a distance; repeating that now to myself sounded like I was stalking her, but it was hard to ignore her when she was everywhere, talking to everyman, stuck in my mind every _fucking _hour of everyday. I sat on my stool, reading through my script, glancing up toward the class who were on the edge of their seats, excited at the prospect of what Mr Darwin was going to do with his 'guinea pigs'. The Frenchwoman stood up from her seat, walking toward the front with all her airs and graces, the eyes of many watching her. She drew up the stool, her eyes not even making a small glance toward me. Obviously she was miffed at what I did, but honestly, we didn't know each other well; why should she care?

"Now I want you two to imagine you are madly in love, truly, maddeningly in love." He said in a slow, calm voice. Françoise's eyes instantly lifted from her script toward Mr Darwin, her cheeks gone a deep shade of crimson. I didn't react to his statement; after all we were playing a part, right? Right. He stood in the middle of us, placing his hands on both stools. Then he did something unexpected; he pulled our chairs closer. "You're not students anymore; you're inseparable lovers who cannot let go, even if the whole world is against you." She turned her whole body toward me, her knuckles white from gripping her script. "Look into each other's eyes. To Romeo; you're hopelessly in love with someone who engaged to someone else. You love her to the depths of your shallow heart; you'd gladly give your life for her if you could. You're not thinking straight anymore, you want nothing but to take her into your hands and make love to her. You're in puppy love, you cannot eat, you cannot sleep, you can only think of her."

"For Juliet; you're naïve and you're not thinking straight. You're engaged to a man your parents approve of, but you're rebellious. You want someone who brings you adventures and romance, and this boy you met is exactly what you wanted. He's handsome, adventurous, romantic, and he cannot stop loving you. You're confused about where your loyalties lie, with your beloved parents or with the man you just met. You're in hopeless love; you cannot do anything else but think about him, his dark, wavy hair, his deep set eyes, his pale, flecked cheeks. You start to notice yourself forgetting you're drifting off into a lull of daydreams about him. You cannot live with him, you cannot live without him. You're losing your mind to him, you're letting go of your inhibitions, trying to let go of the fact that you know this will never work. Now, I want you to try something outside of your script; I want you to use a technique mastered by actors and actresses; Improv. I'm going to give you a situation and you're going to improvise with lines and actions. I want to pretend you're meeting again after the party, and Romeo is confessing his love to Juliet, but Juliet talks about her confusion and uncertainty. You as Romeo need to lead her down the path that she's going to be safe with you."

I felt my cheeks going hot, making a tug at my collar; was it just me or was the room getting hotter? I cleared my throat, turning to face Françoise. She gave a slightly sensual nod, once again flicking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "And…Begin." He said, taking a seat among the students. I stood up from my chair, facing Françoise, drawing myself to full height, trying to feel a bit more romantic. "Ah my Juliet, how I have admired your beauty from afar that evening… I have come to you again, confessing my affection to you. You're the sun and the moon in my life; you're like a nightingale set free; wild and beautiful. If only fate were less cruel, run away with me Juliet, we've got nothing to fear." I leaned forward, trying to set myself up for the part. "I need you in my life, dear, I…love you too much to let go." I could feel the heat in my cheeks running red. Françoise stood gracefully from her chair, clearing her throat.

"Oh Romeo, your ideas of romance are far-fetched, but I want you for my own. You're my prince to my princess, the night to my day. I don't just need you." She said leaning in, hooking her fingers under my collar, drawing me closer, and our faces were inches from each other. "I want to run away from here, far away from here. I will miss my mother and my father, but I need you more than I need life." She whispered in a sultry tone, what made matters worse for me was she knew she was making me flustered; she was playing the game against me. "You're the most romantic, most adventurous man I have ever met. From the night I saw you, such a rough touch and gentle kiss you lay upon me. I want you to be with me; I want to run away from you, but what am I to do with my engagement? My family is expecting me to be-wed this man that I do not love, yet my heart belongs with another." She pulled herself closer to me, her chest pressing against mine, I swore I could feel her through her school blouse; her rather lacy undergarments. "You're my Romeo, I am your Juliet and I love you more than the stars above." We were literally inches from each other's lips. I could feel my entire face right down to my neck burning red. Her violet eyes were so bright, so hopeful and beautiful, and I swore for a minute she was blushing; No you were not in love, not, never, no, nope, not even trying.

That's when the bell rang. As the shrill bell went off, she let go slowly, picking up her script, walking back to her entourage, leaving me standing in the middle of the room, watching student after student walk out as if nothing had happened. Mr Darwin also left, leaving Kiku and Caitlin watching me from their seats. I couldn't be in love with that twat; _no never. _

* * *

"How's the ice-cream?" Kiku said, putting another laden spoon of his own peppermint ice-cream into his mouth. After an episode like that, I couldn't exactly head home with my head in a whirl. I needed sometime with Caitlin the all 'foreseeing' Sherlock. Caitlin wrote down a few more notes into her maths book before taking another bite of her ice-cream. Her eyes were narrow slits behind her thick glasses, studying across my face. I kept my sight on another place, trying to distract myself with the spoon, stirring it into a sticky mush. "It's alright; you know you can never get any better than this shop." We were sitting in the ice-cream parlour near school, a small place run by a pair of siblings who apparently were bossed around by their mother; it was a family business, and of course the big 'mama' was on top. This place had been here for us since we began at the school. Whenever we needed a pick-up or somewhere to hang out, this was the place. You could call it a secret meeting point, or our turf, but both sounded ridiculous and completely idiotic. It was simply somewhere we could shut up school social circles.

"You and Françoise sure had a _lovely _time in class today." I could literally hear the bitterness and resent in her voice, but also a hint of curiosity. She took another moment, scanning through my facial expressions. "Remember the attention theory we stated before? I wasn't wrong, in fact this event has basically emphasised this point for me perfectly. It is very obvious to me, what whether romantically or physically, Françoise is attracted to you. And it is also very prominent," She said in firm voice, the corners of her lips twitching in a smirk. "That you, Arthur Ignatius Kirkland, are madly in love with her." I stopped mid bite, nearly choking on the plastic spoon lodged in my throat. The hard plastic spoon hit the table with a puddle of phlegm and saliva. "Y-Your theory has no basis at all! No fucking way in hell would I have feelings for a woman of that nature?" I said, in between heavy breaths to try and calm down my rapid coughing. She gave a wide smirk, circling her finger on the table with satisfaction.

"That is the reason why my theory is so sound and solid, my dear Arthur." She gave a small laugh, adjusting her glasses. "The way you nervously reply to our questions about her, the way you pull back when we even so much as mention her in your presence, your intolerance to trying to get to know her, the way you quip everything she says, and unmistakable of all; your willingness in recent classes to be her acting partner. You're secretly willing yourself, whether on your own accord or not, to like her." She took a deep breath, her face turning serious. "Just because you've had one bad experience with the French…" She said in a pained voice, placing her hand on mine. "Doesn't mean that you should give up all hope on trying to get to know them, we've been pretty cruel. No I don't like Françoise, but she brings out a happier, more vibrant, more starkly Arthur that has been hidden for so many years; you're becoming yourself again, don't let go of that, because that's more precious than anything you could offer."

Kiku, who had been watching the whole thing, nodding at the right intervals, finally cut in. "In Japan, I used to like a girl in my neighbourhood, and I always tried to get her to follow me home after school, but I was too scared to ever ask her out on a date. She was very popular in my neighbourhood and many boys liked her, besides myself. One day, she was asked out by another boy near my house, and they began dating. Do you know what she told me after I ignored her for weeks? Not returning phone calls or text messages? She said that she was waiting for me to confess my love to her, but another man had beaten me to it, and she was tired of waiting." He gave a sad smile. "Not that it matters now, I love someone who's much deeper and more…to my type, than I could ever imagine," He smiled down at his empty ice-cream cup, swishing the spoon around in the base. "The point is, you cannot expect everything to remain in a limbo, and one day she will get tired of waiting on the edge for a man who will never try to court her. If you want to love her, you need to act." Kiku finished off, his face a brilliant shade of pink, pushing his cup away from himself.

"I'm surprised by that remark, Kiku." Caitlin whispered, her hand quickly jumping off mine. "Who might this girl be?" She smiled gently, giving a tinkling laugh. Kiku simply gave a shaky nod, dismissing the matter. Caitlin did not pursue further. Kiku was not a man who divulged his feelings or stories with great ease, him simply telling us that story must have taken him some wit, but I had a good feeling I knew who the girl he was referring to was. I stood up from the table, slightly huffy. "I am sorry to burst your little fantasy bubble, Caitlin, but I am not in love with Françoise. My days with that woman are limited to the project—" I stopped mid-sentence, making a glance to who was at the next table. It was **her. **She was sitting next to her was the 'school heartthrob' in the year above us; Gilbert. He was a German student from a well-renowned family in the area, and of course with his riches came his good looks. He made girls swoon by the mere breath from between the slits of his lips. She was giving huge giggle that hit the air like clanging bells, her smile wide and vibrant, unlike the little faked smiles she gave me. Her eyes were bright and luminous again, her lips red and glossy. Even if I was in love with her (and let's get this clear; I wasn't), she wouldn't want to date someone of my calibre, I was out of her league, more than that, she was on a high pedestal, I was at the bottom of the food chain, one of the lowly blades of grass she simply walked on daily.

"…I'm going home." I said in a heavy breath, picking up my books and bag, abandoning them at the shop, the only thing left in my head was the sight of her with another man.

_It was only her. _


End file.
